Protector for conduits or pipes



P. MclLROY.

PROTECTOR FOR cowouns 0R PIPES.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. l7, I919.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

[72002262 Eta/v a 7% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER MCILROY, OF ALLISON PARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR T0 ENAMELEDMETALS COMPANY, 013 SHABPSBURG,}1?ENNSYVANIA, A CORPORATION OFPENNSYLVANIA.

rno'rnc'ron r03. comiurrs on PIPES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 3, 1920.

Application filed October 17, 1919. Serial No. 331,332.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PETER McILRoY, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of'Allison Park, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Protectorsfor Conduits or Pipes; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to protectors for pipes or conduits, and hasspecial reference to the type of fragile protectors disclosed in myUnited States Letters Patent No. 1,120,731 dated December 15, 1914.

The object of my invention is to provide a cheap, simple and eflicientmetall c protecting sleeve for use with such fragile protecting sleeveand which may be easily,

quickly and securely attached to such fragile sleeves, which are indirect engagement with the threaded terminals of the plpe or conduit.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a form of metallicprotecting sleeve which will be capable of thoroughly protecting thefragile sleeve by guarding the same against injury through contact withforeign objects and particularly the outer edge of the same, therebyprotect1ng the threads of the pipe or conduit, and also such a formwhich can be easily and quickly removed with such fragile protector fromthe pipe or conduit when desired.

A still further object of the invention is to provide such a metallicprotecting sleeve which when applied to the fragile protector willenable the pipe 01' conduit to be hung with the coupling end up whendipped or coated vertically with the enamel or other material usuallyemployed on the pipe for use as an electrical or other conduit.

To these ends-my invention consists, generally stated, in the novelarrangement, construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter morespecifically set forth and described and particularly pointed out in theclaims. a

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains toconstruct and use my improved protectors for pipes or conduits, I willdescribe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawing, inwhich-- Figure 1 is a side view of a coated pipe or conduit unitembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 1s a longitudinal section of the same;

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the pipe or conduit unit on the line IIIIIIFig. 1 look ing in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side view of one end of the pipe or conduit unitshowing my invention applied thereto; and

Fi 5 is a cross-section of the same on the line V- V Fig. 1.

Like symbols of reference herein indicate like parts in each of thefigures of the drawing.

As illustrated in the drawing, a repre sents the length of pipe whichhas the usual threaded coupling 1) applied to the external threads 0 atthe terminal of such pipe for approximately half the distance of thethreads in such coupling, and the other ter minal has my improvedprotecting sleeve appl ed to its external threads 0. This sleeve 1sdeslgnated as a whole 'by the numeral A and consists of the fragileprotecting member 1 and the metallic protecting member '2 embracing oneend of the same, such fragile member being bf the type disclosed in saidpatentand formed of paper,-linen, pulp or some similar material and themetallic member being-formed of tin, sheet iron or other light metal.These protecting sleeves are employed with pipes which are provided withan interior and exterior coating thereon, as at d, and are applied tosuch pipes before such coating is applied.

The metallic member 2 is formed of thin sheet metal, such as tin, andconsists of the annular body portion 3 and the laterally extendingannular flange 4 at one end of the same, and before the pipe a has itscoating d applied the fragile member 1 is applied to threads 0 by simplypushing the same over such threads, so that its outer end issubstantially flush with the outer end of such slightly beyond such edge1 on said fragile member and thereby enabling such flange 4 on themember 2 to come against the outer end of the pipe at. The metallicmember 2 is held in place on the fragile member 1 after being positionedon the same by crimping the inner end edge 7 of said member2 in anysuitable manner, as shown by the corrugations 8 which extendcontinuously around the member 2 and will take into the mem her 1 andthus securely and firmly hold the metallic member in place on thefragile member.

After the protecting sleeve A formed of the fragile sleeve member 1 andthe metallic slee e member 2 are thus applied to each of the pipes a,suchpipes are then hung vertically in the usual manner by theircouplings Z) at one end from the ordinary racks or cages generallyemployed, which will allow the protecting sleeves to be at the other orlower end of such pipes, so that such pipes can then be dippedvertically by the well known process into tanks containing the coatingmaterial for the application of the coating d thereto, after which theusual other steps of drying or baking such coating on the pipes,inspecting, labeling, etc., can be performed.

When it is desired to remove the protecting sleeve A it is onlynecessary to unscrew the same from the threads 0 on the pipe (4 throughgrasping such sleeve by the fingers in the ordinary cases, and in casethe sleeve sticks to such threads by reason of the coating seeping inbetween the fragile member 1 and the said threads it an easily beremoved or. torn away by grasping the sleeve with a pair of pliers orthe like to pull the same off in an obvious manner.

It will thus be seen that in such dipping of the pipes vertically withthe'protecting sleeves on the same being at their lower ends and bybeing hung by their couplings at the upper ends such sleeves will becoated. as

.will also such couplings along with the pipes and in withdrawing suchpipes from the coating bath the coating n'iaterial will be free to movealong both the interior and ex terior surfaces of such pipes andcouplings and back into the bath while such pipes are hung dripping oversuch bath in the ordinary manner, thereby such coating material.

receiving no interference'by the sleeves in such withdrawal or drippingand enabling a uniform coating to be had on such pipes, couplings andsleeves.

It will be obvious that in the use of my improved protector for pipe andconduit units, with the combined fragile and metallic sleeve beingapplied before the coating is applied to the pipes, the metallic sleevewill also be coated cxteriorly thercl'wy overcoming any liability of theaccumulation of rust on same and njuring the coated pipe or conduitthereby and enabling the coating material to seep in between the saidsleeve and fragile sleeve to bind the same together more firmly and incase these two sleeves are not firmly secured together by the mechanicalmethods employed, while such coating of the metallic sleeve will alsomake a more finished pipe or conduit unit.

It-will also be seen that in the use of the fragile protectors withoutthe sheathing of protecting material around the same, such as when suchprotectors are subject to rough handling in transit, that they becomebroken and fall away from the threads, and with the'met'allic protectingsleeve, such occurrence is well guarded against, for as will be readilyobserved such sleeve not only protects the face of the fragile sleevebut also protects the outer end of the same and thus any injury to thethreads from striking any foreign objects or the entrance of mud or dirtinto such threads is prevented.

Various modifications and changes in the design and construction of myimproved protector for pipes or conduit units, or in the materialemployed, as well as in the steps of forming such pipes or conduit unitsand in the application of such sleeve to such pipes or conduit units,may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit of the invention orsacrificing any of its advantages, as defined in-the appended claims.

lVhat I claim as my invention anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduithaving a threaded end and a fragile thread protecting member associatedwith said threaded end, of a metallic protector secured to said memberat the side thereof remote from the threads, said member and protectorbeing adapted to be unscrewed or torn from the threads of said end whenthe conduit is to be used.

2. As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduithaving a threaded end and a fragile thread protecting member associatedwith said threaded end, of a metallic protector secured to said memberat the side thereof remote from the threads, said member and protectorbeing capable of easy unscrewing or tearing from the threads of said endwhen the conduit is to be used.

3. As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduithaving a threaded end and a fragile thread protecting member associatedwith said threaded end, of a metallic protector secured to said memberat the side thereof remote from the threads and having a flanged outerend covering the outer end of said member, said member and protectorbeing adapted to be unscrewed or torn from the threads of said end whenthe conduit is to be used.

4. As a new article ofimanufacture, the combination with a conduithaving a threaded end and a fragile thread protect-- ing memberassociated with said threaded end, of a metallic protector secured tosaid member at the side thereof remote from the threads and having aflan ed outer end covering the outer end of said member and extendingover the outer end of said conduit, sald member and protector beingadapted to be unscrewed or torn from the threads of said'end when theconduit is to be 'used.

5. As a new article of manufacture, the combination with a conduithaving a threaded end and a fragile thread protecting member associatedwith said threaded end, of a metallic protector secured to said memberat the side thereof remote from the threads by a continuous crimpingaround the same, said member and protector being adapted to be unscrewedor torn from the threads of said end when the conduit is to be used.

6. The herein described process of forming pipes or conduit units havingthreads at their terminals, consisting in applying a protecting sleeveof soft material to one of said terminals, applying a protector of hardand thin material over said first named protector to protect the endedge of said first named protector and threads, and crimping said lastnamed protector to permit the same to take into said first namedprotector to hold said first named protector in place and permit theunscrewing ortearcrimping said last named protector continuously aroundthe same to permit said protector to take into said first namedprotector to hold said first named protector in place and ermit the easyunscrewing or tearing of said protectors from said pipes or unit.

8. The herein described process of forming pipes or conduit units havingthreads at their terminals and a coupling associated with one of saidterminals, consisting in applying a protectingsleeve of soft material tothe other of said terminals, applying a protector of hard and thinmaterial over said first named protector to cover the end of said firstnamed protector and threads, securing said last named protector topermit the same to take into said first named ing pipes or conduit unitshaving threads at their terminals and a coupling associated with one ofsaid terminals, consisting in applying a protecting sleeve of softmaterial to the other end of said terminals, applying a protector ofhard and thin material over said first named protector to cover the endof said first named protector and threads, crimping said last namedprotector continuously around the same to permit said .protector to takeinto said first named protector in place and permit the easy removal ofsaid protectors together from said pipe or unit, and coating said pipeor unit and protectors by dipping the same vertically with the couplingend up.

In testimony whereof, I, the said PETER MCILROY, have hereunto set myhand.

PETER McILROY.

Witness J. M. GEOGHEGAN.

